Psalm 78:72 – With an upright heart He shepherded them and guided them with His skillful hand.

THEME OF THE DAY. LET GOD BE GOD. What I am about to share is not easy but extremely important. In fact, so important that our enjoyment of the Christian life and experiencing deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus will be determined by our reaction to this truth. If we accept and submit to it, then we are on our way to that joy and intimacy I just mentioned. However, if we resist, rebel, and simply refuse, then we are going to struggle in our Christian experience, and may even go into a spiritual wilderness to learn this important truth. And what is this important truth? The theme of today’s nugget – “Let God be God.” Now I know it is easy to respond with words like, “I am letting God be God in my life. I do trust Him and try to live for His glory.” I understand that and so do I. I am not referring to the obvious. I am referring to something else. And that “something” is our desire to figure out God and His ways. If we are struggling in this area, it is not a good place. It is like a hamster on a wheel; going round and round, getting nowhere but exhausted. There are things in the Bible; things about God; things about His working out His plan in us and humanity that we cannot, will not, be allowed to understand this side of heaven. And though I don’t have the mind of God, I am afraid if we push too hard against this reality, we may find ourselves in that spiritual wilderness, sent there by God to teach us the necessary lessons of humility and submission to His always good, but often mysterious ways. So, with that introduction, I want to share three times in the scriptures that God’s ways and workings are not going to be fully understood and He wants us to leave them alone.

First from the oldest book in the Bible – Job. Our friend Job goes through a lot in his life. His suffering and loss are beyond words to describe. And yes, suffering is a main theme in Job. But not the primary lesson. Those come at the end of the book. The primary lesson is how finite we are in understanding God and His ways. Take time and read JOB 38-42. It is riveting and exposing. And in the opening of chapter forty-two, the main lesson in Job is revealed – “Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6). Job learned to let God be God. All through the book he tries to figure out what God is doing and his friends also were quick to discern God’s ways. And at the end God straightens everyone out. He is not like us and His ways are not ours. We are to accept that and not dissect that.

The next is a statement from the wisest man ever to live – King Solomon, “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” (Ecclesiastes 11:5). Pretty simple. Let God be God and don’t try to know the unknowable. And finally from our Savior Himself concerning the new birth. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:7-8). The work of conversion and becoming a Christian is as mysterious as the wind. And here is an area that hangs up Christians and steals their joy; sovereign election and man’s responsibility. Both are taught in the Bible. Yes, God elects people of His own free will to be saved. And yes, every single person in the world is responsible to repent and believe in Jesus for salvation. And yes, every creature is to be preached the Gospel. The only answer to ensure joy is “Lord, I don’t understand how election and responsibility harmonize, but You say they do and I accept that.” Friends, go no further or your joy will be gone. This is a mystery, yes, a mystery that Jesus tells Nicodemus, we are not to try and figure out, just accept and let God be God. As we learn this truth, our joy will be stable and our Christian life more enjoyable. May He help us to let Him be God in all things.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I want to figure out what You are doing and thus live more by sight than faith.”

QUOTE: “We must believe God’s ways are not our ways and prove belief by trusting Him without understanding His ways”